The summer is a great time for college-bound seniors to begin working on their college application essays, as many colleges and universities have already released their essay prompts for the 2017-18 college application season. The 2017-18 Common Application essay prompts were announced earlier this spring, with some changes to existing prompts and the addition of a few more – including the topic of choice essay.
The Coalition Application has also announced its essay prompts for the 2017-18 application season.
Want to get a head start on your college application essays? Below are some of the Common Application supplemental essays and school-specific essay prompts that are currently available.
Human beings have a creative side that tends to shine most when we are truly invested in the world around us. Describe a situation when you responded effectively to a particular need and found yourself at your creative best.
Experience teaches us the importance of being reflective when making major decisions. Share an example from a recent event when a leader or an average person faced a difficult choice. What were the consequences of the decision? Would you have done the same?
Jesuit education stresses the importance of the liberal arts and sciences, character formation, commitment to the common good, and living a meaningful life. How do you think your personal goals and academic interests will help you grow both intellectually and personally during college?
The primary focus of your college interest essay should be what you intend to study at Cornell. In the online Common Application Writing Supplement, please respond to the essay question below (maximum of 650 words) that corresponds to the undergraduate college or school to which you are applying.
College of Architecture, Art, and Planning: Describe two or three of your intellectual interests and why you are excited to pursue them within your chosen major in AAP. What personal experiences, background, or future goals will you bring to your scholarly and artistic pursuits at Cornell?
College of Arts and Sciences: Describe two or three of your current intellectual interests and why they are exciting to you. Why will Cornell's College of Arts and Sciences be the right environment in which to pursue your interests?
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business:Charles H. Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management: How have your interests and experiences influenced your decision to study Applied Economics and Management? Describe how you would take advantage of the Dyson School's unique opportunities, for example, its affiliation with both the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business and the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
Cornell SC Johnson College of Business:School of Hotel Administration: The global hospitality industry includes hotel and foodservice management, real estate, finance, entrepreneurship, marketing, technology, and law. Describe what has influenced your decision to study business through the lens of hospitality. What personal qualities make you a good fit for SHA?
College of Engineering: Cornell Engineering celebrates innovative problem solving that helps people, communities...the world. Consider your ideas and aspirations and describe how a Cornell Engineering education would allow you to leverage technological problem-solving to improve the world we live in.
College of Human Ecology: How have your experiences influenced you to apply to the College of Human Ecology? How will your choice of major impact your goals and plans for the future?
School of Industrial and Labor Relations: Tell us about your intellectual interests, how they sprung from your course, service, work or life experiences, and what makes them exciting to you. Describe how ILR is the right school for you to pursue these interests.
We challenge our students to "be comfortable being uncomfortable". Tell us about a time in high school that you felt outside of your comfort zone and the resolution.
If you are interested in pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Engineering degree, please write a 300-500 word essay describing why you are interested in studying engineering, any experiences in or exposure to engineering you have had and how you think the programs in engineering offered at Princeton suit your particular interests. *This essay is required for students who indicate Bachelor of Science in Engineering as a possible degree of study on their application.
A) It's cool to be smart. Tell us about the subjects or ideas that excite your intellectual curiosity.
B) In a time when we're always plugged in (and sometimes tuned out), tell us about a time when you listened, truly listened, to a person or a cause. How did that moment change you?
C) Celebrate the role of sports in your life.
D) Whether you've built blanket forts or circuit boards, produced community theater or mixed media art installations, tell us: what have you invented, engineered, created, or designed? Or what do you hope to?
F) Artist Bruce Nauman once said: "One of the factors that still keeps me in the studio is that every so often I have to more or less start all over." Everyone deals with failure differently; for most artists failure is an opportunity to start something new. Tell us about a time when you have failed and how that has influenced your art practice.
Essay Option 6. In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.
Essay #2 (Required for all FRESHMEN applicants. 500 words maximum.) Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?
Essay #2 (Required for all TRANSFER applicants. 500 words maximum.) Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests?
College of Arts and Sciences - What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - If you were given funding for a small engineering project that would make everyday life better for one friend or family member, what would you design?
School of Architecture - Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.
Kinesiology Program - Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major.
"Become what you are not yet"
Discuss the work of fiction you have read which has helped you most to understand the complexity of the world.
While division in American politics suggests that the art of persuasion has lost value, dialogue and debate helps define the Wake Forest community. On what issue do you wish to persuade others? What is your argument?
59% of Wake Forest's Class of 2017 received academic credit for faculty-directed research across academic disciplines. Describe a specific academic assignment that sparked an academic curiosity you hope to explore further in college.
What have you learned about yourself from engaging with someone different from you?
You have a popular podcast. What's the title? What's the topic?
During the 2017-2018 academic year, Wake Forest University is launching a year-long Rethinking Community initiative. Use your imagination to rethink your school community and your place in it.
Please limit your upload to the following file types: mp3, mov, jpeg, word, pdf. Note that advanced editing of audio/video/image/documents is not necessary. While we are not providing limits to the length of the material you upload, the Admissions Office may not have time to review the entirety of your submission. Sometimes, less is more. Uploads provided via the Coalition Application will be reviewed by the Admissions Office only. If you wish to submit material that may be evaluated by Yale faculty, please see our Supplementary Material instructions.
Need help getting started on your college application essays? Contact us today for more information on our college counseling programs for high school seniors!
Among all the universities and colleges located in the Boston area, Boston College stands out as a private Jesuit Catholic university located in Chestnut Hill, MA. Its religious affiliation is embedded in the university's teaching philosophy and student body, which makes the liberal arts education of the diverse student body of different religions all the more interesting and challenging.
TIP: First, let's break down the prompt and see what the questions is really asking. The prompt wants the applicant to address three different topics—service, passion and creativity—and how they overlap and intertwine. And, they often do!
With this prompt, begin by asking yourself: how are you truly invested in the world around us? Put more simply, how have you contributed or impacted the world? Jot down some things that come to your head. Did anything on your list involve innovative or creative approaches?
You can also start by brainstorming different creative outlets you have. Do you notice a pattern of how you utilize your creative side? And remember, creative doesn't just mean the arts. It's also how you think outside the box and how flexible you are about approaching a problem.
TIP: Let's break down this essay prompt as well. This prompt is multi-layered. First, it's asking there is a person you look up to, or learned from. In other words, a role model or an inspiration to you. There is no right or wrong answer here; who you look up to is a personal choice, but you should choose carefully. What it can demonstrate is your knowledge in a particular field, your character and your critical thinking.
How? Because the prompt is also asking you why you look up to this person through an example from a recent event. What did he or she do to earn your following or understanding? This is where you can demonstrate your knowledge in a particular field and what your personal values are.
Finally, do you empathize with the difficult decisions he or she made? Is hindsight 20/20? By reflecting on this decision, what have you learned and could you have done something different that yielded a better result? You may not want to do anything different. The decision may not have resolved everything, which yielded mixed consequences but that could also have been the best scenario given the circumstances. This is how you'll be able to display your critical thinking abilities.
TIP: In a nutshell,, this question probes your intellectual curiosity. What class would you die to get into if you saw it on the curriculum? This is where you can show off a little bit about what you want to know and what you want to pursue.
The course can be something related to history that really fascinates you. For example, Adolf Hitler vs. Mao Zedong: The Psychology of World Leaders. This allows you to dive deep into your knowledge in history, if you're a history buff, but also take a more creative approach of understanding history. Or the course can be more related to current events and developments: gender inequality, climate change, or artificial intelligence. Whatever it is, choose a topic where you can easily fill a whole page with questions you want answered!
Then reel it back in. Filter those questions and focus on the major ones. Why do you want to address these issues? Is there an application to the betterment of our future? How can you apply what you've learned in a classroom to the real world? Pull from real experiences you've encountered.
TIP: There's a lot going on in this essay prompt, but the main question here is simply: Why Boston College? The prompt asks you how BC's jesuit education can help foster your personal goals and academic interests. To answer this, you'll also need to have done your research into BC's student and academic life, and what Jesuit education is. In the prompt itself, there are 4 key factors. Break them down and start from there.
Why is a well-rounded education important to you? If you want to be a doctor, for example, maybe it's having the knowledge of hard sciences, but also having an understanding of other cultures so you can empathize with your patients and their family. Maybe it's developing critical thinking skills through literature that you can apply to your desired profession.
Who are you? Who do you want to be? College is a supportive environment to help you figure out what you're interested in and who you want to be. You can tie this to the importance of a well-rounded education on how your academics can have you search for your answer. The answer might also lie in the faculty and student body. How do students of different religious background all come together to learn at a Jesuit university? What new perspectives do they offer?
If you've done any community service during high school, this is something you can plug in. Why was it apart of your high school life? Are you committed to continue those efforts at BC? It can be an extracurricular you can point to, but it can also be related to your studies and future endeavors. How do you want to impact the world and help people?
What is a meaningful life to you? In other words, what do you value the most? What can't you live without? This would be another opportunity for you to showcase how well you know the school. Are there student groups that help support and foster the things that are important to you? Or even in the city of Boston?
There is a 400 word limit so you can start by breaking the 4 key factors down and brainstorming each of them. Maybe you'll find overlaps and can tie those values together. At the end of the day, remember to emphasize why this type of academic and personal development is best done at Boston College.
We hope these tips are helpful as you work on your BC supplemental essays! Remember to look at your college application as a whole. What else have you not shown or discussed in your application? Based on that answer, choose the essay prompt that will allow you to divulge a different aspect of who you are.
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